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Shūsuke Fuji/Playing Style
Playing Styles & Techniques Fuji is a counterpuncher, playing a steady game and attacking at the right time. Most of his techniques are designed to specifically counter an opponent's strength, which gives him the title of a genius. Throughout the series, he has been shown to utilize his counters in creative ways, as shown in the anime matches against Rokkaku and Tezuka, and against Shiraishi with his upgraded counters. Fuji's tennis senses are extremely amazing, which adds to his title as a genius. His ball control is amazing enough to keep an amazing serve-and-volley player like Jirou chained at the baseline even without Hakugei and he can hit cord balls despite having his eyes closed. His control is emphasized more in the anime, where he has been shown to force an opponent to hit a cord ball. He is able to adapt to situations relatively quickly, being shown to play with Closed Eyes in the manga despite being blinded in a short period of time and coming up with several new counters on the fly, as shown against his match with Shiraishi. His senses are sharpened to the point that he can read the wind, allowing him to create amazing counters such as Hakugei and Hoshi Hanabi. His body is noted to be very flexible, evidenced by his playstyle which utilizes many amazing moves and beautiful shots, although Shiraishi has noted that Fuji does not move very efficiently. Fuji's power is somewhat lacking compared to others, as Ishida assumed that he would be unable to return his Hadokyu in their Doubles match and in a private match against Tachibana, Fuji was overpowered by Tachibana's raw power in his Wild Beast Mode. Serve and Volley After facing Jirou in the Hyotei arc, Fuji sometimes during matches might change his play style to serve and volley. Though he is not nearly as good as a regular serve and volley player, he still can do it. Counters Sometimes called the "Three Counter Moves" (or more often called the Triple Counters). Game sealing returns, the counters are techniques that could only be pulled off by a genius like Shūsuke Fuji. Each counter has a very low chance of being returned. Later on in the series, during the Nationals, Fuji upgrades his Triple Counters and reveals more counters: Kagerō Zutsumi, Hecatoncheires no Monban and Hoshi Hanabi. Although Fuji develops six counters, his set of counters is still called "Triple Counters". Fuji's first four counters are based on animals: Tsubame Gaeshi: Swallow; Higuma Otoshi: Brown Bear; Hakugei: Whale; Kagerō Zutsumi: Dragonfly. When Fuji "evolves" his Triple Counters in his game against Shiraishi, their new names are based on mythical creatures: Houou Gaeshi: Phoenix; Kirin Otoshi: Qilin; Hakuryu: Dragon. Tsubame Gaeshi (つばめ返し, Tsubame Gaeshi, trans. "Swallow Return") The first of Fuji's counters to be shown and the one he is often most associated with. Fuji utilizes his opponent's topspin by returning the ball with an extreme slice that doubles the amount of spin. The slice combines with the topspin and causes the ball to dip toward the ground and continue rolling across the court without a bounce. Tsubame Gaeshi can still be returned if it is hit before it touches the ground, which only a handful of players have succeeded in doing. Additionally, Tsubame Gaeshi can be sealed when an opponent can hit "sinkers" (balls without spin). Fuji can still hit an incomplete Tsubame Gaeshi by rolling the ball with his racket, adding some spin to hit a heavy slice, but it is not complete, as the ball does not have enough spin to roll across the court, and will still have a slight bounce. However, Fuji can force the opponent to hit cord balls (balls that hit the top of the net before going in), which forces the ball to spin, and along with rolling the ball with his racket, he can pull off a perfect Tsubame Gaeshi. In his match against Tezuka, Fuji uses the Tsubame Gaeshi in a reverse manner, dubbed the Reverse Tsubame Gaeshi (リバースつばめ返し). Instead of adding backspin to an opponent's topspin shot, Fuji adds extreme topspin to a slice/backspin shot. This also causes the ball to simply roll along the ground, like the original Tsubame Gaeshi, making it almost impossible to return. Higuma Otoshi (羆落とし, Higuma Otoshi, trans. "Bear Drop") By quickly rotating his body, Fuji uses centripetal force to absorb the force of any overhead smash; he then returns the ball with a lob that almost always lands on the opponent's baseline. This counter is first broken by Echizen Ryoma, who hits cord balls to change the trajectory of his smash, therefore altering the position of Fuji's lob and forcing the ball out. Powerful smashes can also overpower the centrifugal force used to nullify the force of a smash. In the first round of the National Tournament, the Shukuchihō technique of Higa Chuu renders the counter useless, as Higa players can move from the baseline to the net and vice versa in "one step". Hakugei (白鯨, Hakugei, trans. "White Whale") Fuji's third counter, Hakugei is a super slice lob with such extreme backspin that as soon as it passes over the net on to the opposite court, it curves upwards out of sight, than it falls straight down (usually on the baseline), and it flies back to Fuji's hand. However, Fuji needs wind to use Hakugei. It is first shown during Fuji's match against Hyōtei's Akutagawa Jirō. Hakugei can be returned if the opponent is fast enough to hit the ball as it flies back to Fuji's hand. Fuji can also change the direction of the ball after it hits the opponent's court, either to go with the direction of the wind or to lessen the chance of a return. In the anime, Fuji changes the direction in his match against Tezuka, where Tezuka approaches the net to wait for the technique, but Fuji adapts and the ball instead flies into the net away from Tezuka. Hakugei is completely broken by Shiraishi Kuranosuke's Perfect Tennis when he changes the direction of how he returns the ball by 90 degrees, hitting it softly in a lateral way. Kagerō Zutsumi (蜉蝣包み, Kagerō Zutsumi, lit. Dragonfly Illusion) Fuji's fourth counter, Kagerō Zutsumi uses both hands as he brings his racket down in an overhead swing that both contains and nullifies all spin on the ball. The ball is then returned devoid of spin, and gives the other player the illusion that the ball is farther than it actually is. {C}This counter is first revealed in Seigaku's first Doubles match with Kawamura against Higa Chū in the National Tournament. However, Kagerō Zutsumi is apparently useless against Kuranosuke Shiraishi's Perfect Tennis as the returning ball without spin comes to Shiraishi's court very slowly and he simply smashes the ball to win the point. Hōō Gaeshi (鳳凰返し, Hōō Gaeshi, lit. Phoenix Return) The upgraded version of Tsubame Gaeshi Fuji creates in his match against Shiraishi. Unlike Tsubame Gaeshi, Hōō Gaeshi sinks at a higher rate and is closer to the net, thus making it much harder to return before it lands. Hōō Gaeshi is first defeated by Niō Masaharu in Tezuka's form; like the Tsubame Gaeshi, the ball can be returned by hitting the ball before it touches the ground. Kirin Otoshi (麒麟落とし, Kirin Otoshi, lit. Kirin/Qilin Drop) The upgraded version of Higuma Otoshi. The only visible difference from this technique is that Fuji uses two hands to repel Shiraishi's smash rather than the one handed Higuma Otoshi. In the OVA, it reaches the opponent's baseline much faster than Higuma Otoshi. Kirin Otoshi is first defeated by Niō Masaharu, who uses Tezuka's form to return the ball by using the Tezuka Zone to make the ball enter his side rather than letting it go to his baseline. Hakuryū (白'龍', Hakuryū, lit. White Dragon) The upgraded version of Hakugei. Unlike Hakugei, Hakuryū rises much higher into the sky. Instead of spinning backwards to Fuji, the ball will bounce towards the sides. Hakuryū is first defeated by Niou Masaharu, who uses Tezuka's form and returns the ball by smashing it before it bounces. Hecatoncheires no Monban (百腕巨人の門番, Hekatonkeiru no Monban, lit. Gate Keeper of Hecatoncheires) Fuji's fifth counter (first stated to be his "final" counter), Hecatoncheires no Monban, is actually translated to "The Hundred Armed Giant", but this is a title from Greek Mythology, and thus kept with the name "Gate Keeper of Hecatoncheires". Using the reverse side of the racket, Fuji uses the slide of the oncoming ball over the gut and forcing a super spin to the ball. Then by instantaneously reversing his wrist and using the other side of the racket, he doubles the spin yet again. The way this counter works is from the extreme underspin Fuji creates, forcing the ball being returned back to him being a topspin, and topspins have a faster sink, making the ball sink before it passes the net. Shiraishi Kuranosuke manages to overcome the tremendous spin of the ball and breaks this counter by creating a counter-spin on the ball just strong enough for the ball to go beyond the net as a cord ball. Hoshi Hanabi (星花火, Hoshi Hanabi, lit. Star Fireworks) Hoshi Hanabi is Fuji's sixth counter. He reveals it during the Singles 2 match against Rikkai Dai's Niō Masaharu in the National Finals. When the opponent hits a cord ball as a result of returning Hecatoncheires no Monban, Fuji responds by launching the ball straight into the sky, out of anyone's field of vision. Due to a certain wind, the ball will then crash land at a very high speed with an irregular spin and it will bounce to any side. He first used this technique in his match against Shitenhōji's Shiraishi on his last shot but the shot was out. The name of the technique was not yet revealed that time. According to Sadaharu Inui, Hoshi Hanabi can be performed by Fuji because he can read the wind. Serves Disappearing Serve (消えるサーブ) Otherwise known as a "cut-serve", but because Fuji spins the ball as he drops it, this particular underhand serve makes the ball also disappears. While not as fast or powerful as most serves, many players are caught off guard by the way the ball abruptly "cuts" to the left (the returner's right), and in a sense "disappears". Fuji first uses this move when he faces Jirō Akutagawa from Hyōtei Academy. The Disappearing Serve is completely broken by Shiraishi's Perfect Tennis during the National Semifinals. Others Closed Eye (心の瞳) ' A state that sharpens Fuji's abilities greatly. Fuji used it first at Kantō Finals during his match with Kirihara after he blinded him with a smash. But it's at the National Finals in his match against Niō Masaharu when Fuji refines his "Closed Eye" mode, even being able to aim for a cord ball and break all of Tezuka's techniques, including Hyaku Ren Jitoku and Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami. Anime Only 'Upper Body Split Step This move was created out of need at the Kantō Tournament finals during his match with Kirihara who hurt Fuji's knee. The difference in speed allows Fuji to cover the court more effectively. Australian Formation In episode 136: Junior Selection Camp, Gathered, Fuji and Saeki pair up as a doubles pair against Inui and Yanagi pair. When they were losing, both Fuji and Saeki surprised viewers with their ability to use the Australian Formation. This allowed Fuji to use his first counter, Tsubame Gaeshi, in the match. Knuckle Serve (ナックルサーブ) This move is shown when Fuji is playing Akaya Kirihara from Rikkai Dai in the anime. Due to the fact that Fuji is angry, he uses the Knuckle Serve to take revenge. Before the user throws the ball in the air, the user squeezes the ball first to add an extreme and unpredictable spin. Its direction can only be seen by the one who served it. U-17 Camp Stats *Speed: 3 *Technique: 5 *Mental: 4 *Stamina: 3 *Power: 3 Category:Character Subpages